


"So, we can legally get married now, and you didn't bother to tell me?"

by BeeboIsHigh



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes & Tony Stark Friendship, Bucky Barnes and the 21st Century, Bucky barnes is clueless, Clint and Natasha are a chaotic duo, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, If You Squint - Freeform, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Not Canon Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Precious Peter Parker, They're all friends, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Why?, because I said so, no civil war, steve rogers is an idiot, the avengers all live together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-06-28 13:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeeboIsHigh/pseuds/BeeboIsHigh
Summary: Bucky has recovered most of his memories, and he's together with Steve again, but nobody has told him that their lives are no longer in danger for holding hands in public. He goes to get his weekly arm check up from Tony, and a certain spiderling helps him realize that he's dating an even bigger idiot than he thought.orSteve forgets to tell Bucky that being gay no longer means being shot and Peter accidentally does it for him.





	"So, we can legally get married now, and you didn't bother to tell me?"

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still new to writing but here I am. Enjoy this and please give me feedback! Thanks for reading!

For as long as Bucky's known, being anything other than straight was a death sentence. When he was with Steve in the time before the war, they had to be discreet and keep everything between them platonic in public. They had to be careful with everything, and no matter how strong the urge to hold Steve's hand may have been, the fear of Steve getting hurt was much stronger. This was the way things were, and as far as Bucky was concerned, it was still that way now.

Bucky didn't know that he could hold Steve's hand at the mall and not have anyone bat an eye. He didn't know that two women could be legally married in a huge wedding with hundreds of guests. He didn't know that it was okay to say he liked boys (Steve) to his friends without them looking at him in disgust and promptly never speaking to him again. There were many reasons for these thoughts. In all the movies and shows he'd seen, not one of them showcased a same-sex couple. He'd never heard a song sung by a girl about another girl. When he went out in public, he only saw straight couples displaying affection. The biggest kicker of course, could be the fact that his golden retriever of a boyfriend, a certain Steve Rogers, never told him that being gay wasn't exactly a big deal anymore.

~~~

It was another lazy afternoon at the Avengers building. Clint and Natasha were having a massive pillow fight in the living room after a disagreement on how to build their blanket fort, Steve was sparring with Sam in one of the training rooms, Peter was helping Tony in the lab, and everyone else was out doing their own thing. Everyone except Bucky, who was unsure what to do with himself. He didn't feel like sitting in his (Steve's) room and doing nothing, and he wouldn't dare set foot in the living room where the two master assassins were trying their best to commit homicide by pillow. After contemplating his options, he decided his arm could use the tune-up he'd been putting off for a few days, and he made his way down to the lab.

Tony and Peter were exchanging friendly banter while they both worked on their own projects when Bucky walked in. Peter stopped fiddling with his web-shooters for a second to smile adorably at Bucky before continuing with his work. Bucky smiled back, he liked Peter, he knew Peter was a good kid. Tony looked up and set down his own creation upon seeing Bucky enter. "Need a fix on the arm?" He asked, motioning at Bucky's mechanical arm.

Bucky smiled and replied, "Yeah, it's been about a week since I last had you make sure it was okay. It's been more resistant to movement recently, so I figured you could fix it up." He walked over to the small space he normally sat in while Tony messed with his arm.

Tony nodded before replying, "Of course I can fix it, I'm Tony Stark." He stood up and walked over to the desk where Bucky had already sat down. "Hey, kid, come here, this is a learning experience for you. You should know how to fix up our other fossil in case I'm not around to do it," Tony called to Peter. The teen jumped out of his chair and hurried over to them, always eager to learn something new from Tony.

"I've always wanted to get a look at the arm, it's so cool!!! How does it connect to your brain? What type of metal is it made of? Does it rust?" The questions flowed at a hundred miles per hour as Peter vibrated in excitement. Bucky and Tony both shared a smile at his eagerness.

"Well, stop talking and you'll see how it works," Tony responded before beginning to check out the arm. He explained things to Peter as he went along checking it, and found out that the problem was minor and could be easily fixed. Tony let Peter do the job as he closely supervised.

"So Peter, how's school going?" Bucky asked, trying to make conversation.

"It's okay I guess, I mean I'm still being bullied and don't have a will to live, so same as usual," Peter shrugged, continuing to work, ignoring the look of concern that flashed over Bucky's face.

Tony picked up on Bucky's concern before replying, "He says stuff like that all the time, apparently it's normal among kids now." Bucky relaxed at this, and tried again.

"Well, that's...okay...but is there anything cool going on? Something nice happen?" He asked, trying to draw Peter into a conversation and not be the antisocial hermit Sam called him.

"Nothing too crazy. I passed a history test yesterday. This kid Evan is planning to ask his boyfriend to prom in this crazy way that will either end in flames or with a date. Oh and Ned and I are hanging out this weekend at his place, we got a new lego set to build!" Peter said, continuing his work on Bucky's arm.

Bucky froze for a moment before hesitantly saying, "Wait, tell me about that second thing again?"

"Oh, Evan and Sean? Yeah, Evan is...extra. He's gonna make this huge sign and get some of the band and choir kids to serenade Sean as a surprise after school next week, and then he's gonna have his friends throw confetti if it goes well. There's also gonna be people filming and he has a dance routine planned. Only issue is that he's roped about 40 people into this so far and the administration doesn't know. I think I may stay after just to see it happen. It may be cute, but if he makes a huge mess like he probably will, he won't even be going to prom," Peter rambled, not seeing the look on Bucky's face. Tony, however, picked up on Bucky's shock.

"What's with the face, capsicle 2.0? It's not exactly the craziest thing I've ever heard come out of that kid's mouth," Tony asked, confused at Bucky's reaction.

"...A boy...is asking...another boy...to a dance..?" Bucky slowly asked, trying to make sure he heard it right.

"Yeah- oh shit. You're from the 40's. Please don't be homophobic, being gay is cool now!" Peter said, hoping Bucky wouldn't be stuck in the mindset of that time. Bucky remained silent, taking in the news.

"It's okay now? Like it really is? I'm not gonna be shot or anything?" Bucky tentatively asked after a moment. Peter had stopped his work in the tense moment and Tony remained silent, thinking of what to say if things went sour.

"Yeah man, wait what do you mean you aren't-" Peter quickly cut himself off, realizing what Bucky meant. After a moment he said, "It's okay that you didn't know, you've only been fully functioning for about a year or so, and a lot of things happened since you were frozen. You're cool man, everything's fine."

"But I've never seen any gay couples on the TV. And I've never heard any music with that stuff in it. Hell, I've never even met someone who wasn't straight," Bucky said, still processing the information.

"Well, you've been watching the wrong things then, and you haven't been listening to the right artists either. Also, yeah you have met someone who isn't straight," Tony responded, breaking his silence.

"Who have I met?" Bucky asked, looking at Tony now.

"Me," Tony responded, all too casually.

"What?" Bucky asked, even more confused now. "But, Pepper?"

"I'm bisexual, idiot. I like guys and girls. Before Pep came along, I didn't care who was in my bed at night. As far as I'm concerned it's refreshing to have a guy occasionally, you haven't truly lived until you've taken it up the ass every day for a month," Tony replied, smiling fondly at a (slightly concerning) memory of a challenge he did a few years ago while Peter and Bucky cringed.

"Too much information, Mr. Stark," Peter said with a disgusted look on his face.

"Sorry kid, but the point is that it's alright to be out about it now. Lots has changed. You can even get married now!" Tony said, trying to reassure Bucky.

Bucky nodded before murmuring, "That son of a bitch..." This earned a confused look from both Peter and Tony, before Bucky clarified. "Well since that's out now, I guess I should tell you that I've been with Steve since 1938, and we've been dating again for about a year now."

Peter dropped the tool he was holding in shock. Tony just sighed before saying, "Shit, I owe Nat money." There was an awkward silence for a moment before Peter regained his composure and went back to fixing Bucky's arm. The three exchanged conversation about all the new things that happened throughout the rest of the time Bucky was in the lab. Once his arm was back to its regular working order, Bucky thanked Tony and Peter and went up to his room to confront Steve.

~~~

Steve was drying off from a shower when an angry super soldier stormed in, ready to throw hands. "So, we can legally get married now, and you didn't bother to tell me?" Bucky spat at him, pissed that Steve never told him about something so major that could even apply to them one day.

"Oh shit...um...surprise...?" Steve responded, backing himself against the wall in an effort to live another day. Bucky got closer and made sure Steve had no way to escape him before continuing.

"Steve. I had to keep myself from showing you affection for a whole year by reminding myself I could die for holding your hand, and you just forgot to say that I could make out with you in public and not have anybody give a fuck? How do you forget something like that?" Bucky asked, gradually cooling off, but still scary. 

A regretful look appeared on Steve's face before he responded, "I'm sorry Buck, I just had so much to catch you up on that it just got pushed back and I didn't mean to never tell you, and oh my god I'm such an idiot, Natasha was right, I am bad at remembering important things." He dared to step away from the wall and reach out to touch Bucky's right arm, giving him puppy eyes, and praying that he didn't just screw up their relationship.

Bucky sighed, and dropped the whole aggressive composure before saying in a much smaller voice, "I just wanted to be with you and let people know, and it makes me upset that we could've been out to our friends almost a year ago." Steve nodded and slowly hugged Bucky.

"I'm so sorry," Steve said, muffled by Bucky's neck. Bucky hugged him back, knowing that Steve was prone to being an idiot. He was still upset, but he knew that Steve didn't mean to cause any harm. This would all blow over eventually, and he knew that Steve meant his apology if the wetness he felt on his neck was any indication.

"It's gonna be okay, this'll be behind us soon enough," Bucky responded, gently pressing a kiss to Steve's head. Steve nodded and sniffled again, mentally beating himself up for forgetting something so important. Out of all the things he had to introduce to Bucky, this was probably the most important and he screwed it all up. Bucky picked up on this, and gave Steve another squeeze, whispering, "It's okay, it's okay," into Steve's hair. Steve was very insecure about his relationship with Bucky at times, and he did everything he could to make Bucky happy. This mistake set him into a toxic mindset immediately. Bucky knew Steve would carry this guilt extra hard for a while, and he knew that if they dwelled on the topic, Steve would only make it worse for himself. "We don't need to talk about this right now, nothing we can do to undo it," Bucky murmured, still against Steve's head. Steve took a shaky breath and nodded against him. Bucky reached out and wiped the tears away from his eyes.

After another moment, they broke apart, and once he gained some of his composure back, Steve asked, "How did you find out, anyways?"

"Tony and Peter. Did you know Tony likes boys too?" Bucky answered.

"He does?" Steve asked, feeling oddly relieved knowing at least Tony would accept him for sure.

"Yeah, he's cool with it, and doesn't really care who knows. He's got Pepper now, and he's really happy with her, so whatever," Bucky responded.

"Fair enough, it's not that big a deal anyways," Steve replied, reaching to take Bucky's hand in his own. "Let me make up for my mistake?" He asked.

"What do you have in mind?" Bucky questioned.

"Maybe we could go for a walk in the park and actually hold hands?" Steve asked, fearing that Bucky would say no.

Bucky smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that," he responded, leaning to kiss Steve before they got ready to enjoy time outside as a couple.

As they passed through the living room, they found Clint and Natasha both passed out on the floor surrounded by pillows, blankets, and feathers. Natasha was clutching a ruined pillow in one arm and her other hand was buried in Clint's hair. Her head was on his legs and she was snoring softly. Clint was wrapped around her, his head pillowed on her thighs as he slept, snoring not so softly. Steve and Bucky exchanged a look before Steve took out his phone and snapped a picture of the two assassins enjoying their nap on the floor with each other as pillows. Another great modern innovation.

The two smiled as they walked away from sleeping couple and out the door, ready to finally do what they had been craving since 1938.


End file.
